Shay has called in to prompt us at Toads
Today I’m asking you to write a poem involving a crow, or crows. They happen to be my totem animal, and I adore them, but even if you don’t like crows, they make wonderful fodder for writing.
As most of you know, a group of crows is called a “murder” of crows. Crows are often used in literature and films to convey a sense of foreboding or death. But crows are extremely intelligent birds who can figure out complex tasks–like using a stick to help them retrieve a piece of food–and they can distinguish individual human faces so that they know who is a friend and who to avoid. If you feed crows, they will sometimes bring trinkets and shiny objects to leave as gifts for you.
So, write about crows, or from the point of view of a crow, or use them as metaphors. Just write about crows! New poems only. You can write haiku if you want, but crows will come and peck your eyes out, and I won’t feel one bit sorry for you.
crow hunched his form against the sheeting rain
wrapped black wings in cloaked sweep
and cawed an old call ancient and throaty
a story emerged then that was life’s to tell of itself
arr-owed on the wind from one murder(us) branch
to the next as (indecipherable to us who-mans) chatter
we heard something but knew not what and so
poem-ed our way forward with adjective and verb
our caw more cerebral and less visceral perhaps
epics we writ long and large and penned haiku with no eyes
tales of crow inked page upon page and we believed that we could
watch as crow and that we too cawed a song from the ancestors
meanwhile crow shook the wet coat of rain from his drenched self
and peering through the torrent with shiny obsidian orbs muttered
to no one in particular ‘fucking poets’
Oh I love this, that ending made me giggle… Great writing!!
Thank You Susie.
Bwahahahaha! I love the humor in this! Great write 😀
8-))
He, he, he
ho ho ho
sonofabitch crows. that’s all i gotta say
Careful…that could be the first line of a Haiku 😉 One eye out at least.
I know! My poem started out much shorter, but I knew it could never be haiku because of the attack of the crow
Chicken 😉
This cracked me up!
Good to hear.
Oh my, you just about made me guffaw out loud. Love it!
Good. Twas the intention.
Lol. I love the ending……and the cawing a song from the ancestors.
I do think they do that though, the crows…carry ancestral songs.
Oh, I love the juxtaposition of darkness and humor in this, Paul.
THIS: wrapped black wings in cloaked sweep
and THIS:
shook the wet coat of rain from his drenched self
and that subtle murder(us)
So.Good.
Thanks De…I wondered if to write cloak-ed this way…may still do.Glad you liked.
Well I guess you know I love this. No eyes!
No-i – dea 😉
Ha! Fabulous write.
Thanks
This was nice reading, Paul. It bothered me that the poor crow had no eyes, but many of the wild have escaped some terrible abuse. Must have been a poet that was cause for his final remark here.
..
Oh the crow had eyes alright…only not just his 😉
I LOVE this, Paul. I can just see those ‘obsidian orbs’ watching me and laughing.
I’m sure he didn’t mean ‘all’ poets 😉
Flies out of language leaving poetry spluttering in the rain.
You do do a fine line in comments Brendan. Thanks. I could see a ‘Book of Comments’ down the road 😉
Love:
“poem-ed our way forward with adjective and verb
our caw more cerebral”
Thank You Maam.
epics we writ long and large and penned haiku with no eyes
tales of crow inked page upon page…
Crows do seem to be a source of inspiration for many writers. I loved the (who mans).
🙂
Thanks Kerry. They do have something about them those Crows.
Penned haiku with no eyes. I see Fireblossom’s crow has found you!
What better inspiration than that…too good not to use.
I may hammer one together later this evening. Crows are my pals at the middle school where I work. They terrify some of the kids. Others have been amazed by having a dean who speaks to crows… and having them speak back. Of course, this doesn’t apply to fish crows (or as I call them, Southern crows) who utter nothing but “Un uh!” Contrary beasts!
You the dean? crow speaking dean? cool.Fish crows i don’t know. Black Crowes I do 😉
Smaller versions (slightly). They don’t caw or call out their names. Sometimes one or two of one species flock with the other. Crows are just lots of fun. …except for farmers and gardeners.